Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1151507
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 AUGUST 2019 LITERATURE ENVIRONMENT Most plants bloom in spring but some intrepid species go for a summer display. One of the less showy sum- mer species is the common heliotrope (M. vanilja bajda), a lovely plant if you care to stoop for a closer look. The plant is green but looks greyish as it's mostly covered in small silvery fur. It's in bloom all summer and grows in many disturbed places such as roadsides and field edges. My favourite part of the plant is the young flower stalk, which curls back reminiscent of a violin's neck and scroll. But instead of pegs there's these tiny white flowers in a neat zigzag down the stalk – a picture of quiet elegance. The word heliotrope, incidentally, comes from two Greek words meaning sun and turning, referring to plants' habit of turning towards the sun for maximum photosynthesis. Text: Victor Falzon Photo: Desirée Falzon 672. COMMON HELIOTROPE Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 573: Booking and more information at: www.foemalta.org/events THE XIVth edition of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival organised by Inizjamed will be a week long, starting from Sunday, 18 Au- gust and concluding with three nights at Fort St Elmo between Thursday, 22 and Saturday, 24 August. Entrance to all events is free. Writers from nine countries are reading at the festival, which also features Maltese and foreign poetry films, Maltese musicians, a book stall, a book binding stand by Kotba Calleja, drinks and a selection of food provided by CORE GREEN Organic & Fair Trade. The authors participating in this XIVth edi- tion are Rasha Abbas (Siria/Germany), Astrid Alben (United Kingdom), Rena Balzan (Mal- ta), Antoine Cassar (Malta), Yolanda Castaño (Galicia), Sampurna Chattarji (India), Elizabeth Grech (Malta), Eric Ngalle Charles (Cameroon/ Wales), Yolanda Pantin (Venezuela), Davide Rondoni (Italy), Habib Tengour (Algeria/ France) and Loranne Vella (Malta). Readings will be mostly in Maltese and English, but some short works will also be read in their original language. The writers will be in Malta throughout the week of the festival to take part in these transla- tion workshop led by Nadia Mifsud. They will be translating each other's works, and reading some of these translations during the festival. Two discussions will be held on Sunday, 18 August and Tuesday 20 August at The Under- croft and Valletta Contemporary, both in Val- letta. The first discussion will tackle the theme Is Universality a Myth? The Case for Literature, while the second will follow with the theme (Not) Maintaining the Status Quo. For both discussions, different invited authors will be on the panel. There will also be time for questions for the audience. On Wednesday an Open Mic at Valletta Con- temporary will be held at Valletta Contempo- rary, Valletta. The Festival will then be concluded with three nights at Fort St Elmo. Four authors will read their work every night together with their trans- lated work concluded during the workshops. On Friday, 23 August, More or Less Theatre will be holding a session of storytelling with kids at the same space of the Festival. During one night at the Nights at the Fort, a poetry film will be premiered. Following a call for proposals, the group 'Cine Laurea' are working on a poetry film which will present Joe Friggieri's poem "Natura Morta". The poetry film will be premiered during one of the nights at the Fort. A musical component will also be present every night. The band Tact will be playing on Thursday and Friday nights while the band Djun will be playing on Saturday. The Festival logo and other promotional ma- terial were designed by artist Pierre Portelli. More information is available on Facebook on pages of Inizjamed Malta and the Malta Medi- terranean Literature Festival 2019 and at iniz- jamed.org. Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival This historic novel is being published to commemorate the centenary of the Sette Gi- ugno riots. Eroj is recounted through the eyes of two lov- ers. Since his childhood, Anġlu has sought to work in order to help his parents raise the family. And now that he has grown into a young adult and is employed as a dockyard worker, he finds himself part of Manwel Dimech's rebel- lious 'Xirka tal-Imdawlin'. On the other hand Serafina, his girlfriend, comes from a somewhat higher class fam- ily, which supports Nerik Mizzi. She even works with the Francia family, one of the richest families on the island. Notwithstanding their love for each other, they have to struggle against the situation which divides their families, influenced by different po- litical forces. In order to reach their po- litical goals, some of these forces are doing their best to instigate the lower class workers to revolt. They take advantage of the precarious social situation dominated by unemploy- ment, misery, bad health, lack of education, low wages, new taxes and most of all famine, due to the bad qual- ity and high prices of bread. Eroj Books by Michael Cini 'Palk Hieles'